Artificial marble is an artificial composite with the texture of natural stone obtained by mixing base resin selected from acrylic resin, unsaturated polyester resin, epoxy resin, or cement with additives including natural stone dusts, minerals, resin chips, and the like, and by adding additives including pigments and the like if necessary.
The artificial marble is classified into a solid product and a granite product produced by adding the chips, and representative types of the artificial marble include acrylic artificial marble, polyester artificial marble, epoxy artificial marble, melamine artificial marble, E-stone (engineered stone) artificial marble, and the like. The artificial marble has excellent outer appearance, processability, light weight compare to natural marble, and excellent strength, thereby being used as an internal and external finishing material for interior decoration including various upper plate materials, a dressing table, a sink, a counter, a wall material, a floor, furniture, and the like.
The artificial marble with linear stripes can be produced by producing a marble plate using various fibrous materials, and using the chips obtained by crushing the artificial marble with the linear stripe patterns and/or the produced marble plate.
For embodying a pattern similar to the natural stone or a new pattern unlike conventional patterns, stripe patterns or the chips with different sizes, colors, and textures are used.
A method for expressing a pattern with stripes on the artificial marble includes a method of using a liquid-type resin, and a method of using natural fibers or artificial fibers. Of course, the artificial marble with the stripe pattern can be produced by using the chips obtained by using the liquid-type resin, natural fibers or artificial fibers.
However, the artificial marble with the stripe pattern expressed by using the liquid-type resin has a weakness of no three-dimensional effect, and the artificial marble with the stripe pattern expressed by using natural fibers or artificial fibers has a weakness of high water absorption by themselves, and easy contamination of the surface of the artificial marble by unfilled surface of the marble due to pores on the fibers.
Accordingly, the present inventors have developed the artificial marble of the present invention that has excellent fouling resistance and abrasion properties, and the same patterns with natural stones obtained by producing the artificial marble chips containing metal fibers and/or inorganic fibers, and using the artificial marble chips to produce the artificial marble.